Economist: Strong demand for workers in Singapore may mean higher pay, greater benefits

Singapore — Data from a global jobs portal is showing that employment opportunities for workers in Singapore have increased despite the pandemic.

Indeed, a US-based worldwide website for employment listings said in a recent release that local job postings have gone higher than pre-COVID levels since October 2020. The company also said that after economic restrictions in the middle of last year, postings have regained momentum.

This indicates that the uptick in employment opportunities reflects “the strong comeback in the Singapore economy.”

Moreover, it will also “undoubtedly set to put the job market in the favour of employees.”

Indeed said that by the end of last month, the number of jobs posted on its site had gone up 93 per cent from the level on Feb 1, 2020, when the pandemic began.

A press release from Indeed quotes Mr Callam Pickering, Indeed‘s APAC economist, as saying that “globally the past two years have been difficult for employees. 

However, the strong demand for workers in Singapore is a great sign for future employment growth and clearly indicates that the Singapore labour market will tighten in the near term. Businesses are optimistic about their prospects and confident in Singapore’s broader economic recovery despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases recently.”

He added that while the local job market is a boon for jobseekers, it will prove to be tough for recruiters, as the demand for talent has risen across sectors, and is greater in some than in others.

Mr Pickering explained that this bodes well for Singapore workers by way of higher compensation and workplace benefits.

“As the economy continues to recover, we do anticipate skills shortages becoming further exacerbated,” he added.

Here is Indeed’s data concerning the uptick in demands for jobs across sectors since Feb 1, 2020

• production roles — 146 per cent
• engineering sector — 140 per cent
• installation & maintenance roles — 130 per cent
• tech — 118 per cent
• construction — 101 per cent

“These categories experienced postings growth that exceeded the national average throughout the pandemic,” Indeed added.

And while the rising demand in some sectors such as production and construction is because of job loss during the pandemic, for other industries, such as tech, the rise in job postings reflect a rising demand for skills in these sectors. 

The portal also noted that there has been slower growth in the following sectors: community, social science, law, retail, and customer and personal services, but added that the country’s already low unemployment rate of 2.4 per cent “has the potential to fall even further in line with general business optimism.” 

The Ministry of Manpower also sought to reassure the public recently concerning Singapore’s employment rates, saying that the “Great Resignation” that has occurred in other countries is not happening locally.

MOM said that resignation rates in Singapore have “remained consistently low throughout the pandemic.”

MOM wrote that for the third quarter of 2021, the resignation rate was at 1.6 per cent.

“This figure is also below pre-COVID levels (the quarterly average in 2018 – 2019 was 1.8%). This shows that the pandemic has not led to a significant increase in resignations.”

The ministry warned, however, that “as the economy recovers, some increase in labour turnover is expected,” explaining further that for low-wage sectors, workers could exchange their jobs for better opportunities, and that for growth sectors with strong labour demand, higher rates of recruitment and resignation are to be expected. /TISG

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No ‘Great Resignation’ — MOM says SG’s resignation rates actually at pre-COVID levels